I realize there are a thousand fake/reproduction bear traps out there, but.....







A friend brought this trap to me. Asked me if I could find out more about it. He got it in Pennsylvania about 20 years ago when he was taking down an old grainery. Overall length is 33.5 inches and the jaws are 12.5 inches wide. Pan is wood with metal hold. Appears to be all hand forged. No makers mark on it. Thanks.

Hydro pillar has one like it in South Dakota . Got it out of Pa . I lived in the area where he got his looks just like your . I think it has chestnut for a pan .

Where he got it from there has been an Indian village and a black smith in the area since the 1600s

That's an old one 1800's for sure.

Is it real? not some fake.

Value?

I don't believe it is fake . I have no idea on value . But it's nice .

its hand forged civil war era or before.

come on guys ..its the trap that george hand forged over in that valley its worth millions :}

I still think you need the wood tested to see how old it is . Very nice trap , I don't know why anybody would think it would be fake .

Appears to be a piece of driftwood. Can driftwood be carbon dated?

It's not drift wood .in person it looked like chestnut to me . It had been hanging in a barn for a long time ,I am surprised the trigger assembly was not lost .

i gave it to john as hes quite a toy and other antique guy and has connections . try n get some more info. im hoping somewhere along the line we can get it to a historian in pa that can help identify the steel .. its well built trap and really good smith work. the fact it is single pin jaws leads me to believe it could be older than 1850 ish by the time the fur boom push west and the mass production like standish ,newhouse ect they went to double pin.. i think there is a chance of finding the maker but i dont think it will come from the trap circle of guys i think it will come from someone knowlegable about blacksmithing from the era and knows steel.. like ray said it came from same county or nearby ft susquehanna where they had the forge as far back as 1600.. i sure have fun makin other collectors lick their chops

as nice as it is leads me to think it was made with a trip hammer... that would help narrow down where it was built.. but other times i think it was done by hand. if the bonehead that built it would have only stamped his name on it.. there is a definite chisel mark that is out of place on the right jaw post maybe that was his mark.. you would think with all the work that went into it and the quality of craftsmenship that he marked it somehow.

There was a big collector in that area that passed away a couple years ago .lots of nice blacksmith work in that area . Where the juniata And the Susguhanna River was both major avenues of transportation